News & Articles on Burma-Sunday, 01 May, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Sunday, 01 May, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
Civil Strife will prolong under Burma’s new president
The savage toll from Burma's dirty war
Suu Kyi, dedicated follower of the Grateful Dead
'New Myanmar govt continuation of junta'
Junta softens approach to Nargis victims
Some 38 armed group members surrender in Myanmar in three months
Myanmar president urges workers to work for developing nation
Myanmar strives for satellite communication development
USDP Fails to Keep Election Promises
----------------------------------------------------
Civil Strife will prolong under Burma’s new president
Sun, 2011-05-01 00:08 — editor
Myanmar
By- Zin Linn
01 May, (Asiantribune):

Burma’s new President Thein Sein gave an address at 1/2011-Meeting held at the President Office in Naypyitaw on 23 April. Thein Sein highlighted that without national unity, the country with more than 100 races cannot have peace and stability. So, the government has to prioritize the national unity, he said.

However, in contrast, fresh fighting between Burmese armed forces have been making lots of hostilities against various ethnic armed troops. Without any external threats, the Burmese army has been expanding its strength over 400,000 soldiers and is one of the strongest in the region. Its armed forces have been engaging in ongoing conflicts with several ethnic rebel groups seeking self-determination since 1948.

Recently, the United Wa State Army and its ally the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) also called Mongla, were informed by the Burma Army yesterday, 28 April, to depart from their bases outside designated territories by tomorrow, 30 April, quoting informed sources from the Sino-Burma border, Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.) said.

The messages were by phone calls by separate regional commands: The order to UWSA in Panghsang was from commanding officer of the Northeastern Region Command (Lashio), while the order to Mongla was from the commander of the Triangle Region Command (Kengtung). According to a source close to the Mongla leadership, the Burma Army would attack Wa and Mongla posts at anytime they wanted if the ethnic troops failed to withdraw their bases by the given time limit.

The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has reportedly ordered all of its frontline units on 24-hour alert along the Salween river, a shared border with its ally the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’. The UWSA have alerted all of its troops to be ready to defend Wa State, although they do not want war. They will not fire the first shot, said a senior Wa officer.

SSA ‘North’ has been combating Burmese armed forces currently since the junta issued the ultimatum to accept the Border Guard Force program. The SSA ‘North’ has been fighting with the Burmese Army since 13 March. It was given an ultimatum to surrender by the end of March and to pull out from all their bases deploying in areas outside its main base. The latest skirmishes between the two apparently took place twice in Kehsi Township.

The Burmese Army has had at least 30 killed and 100 wounded, while the SSA has had four killed and eight wounded, according to SSA sources.

According to the latest information, SSA-North’s core base Namlao in Tangyan township, the gateway to its ally the UWSA, was seized by the Burma Army on 15 March after heavy fighting between the two sides for almost half a day, according to sources from the SSA.

The Burma Army allegedly accused them of breaching their 1989 agreement that they would not make recruitment or expand their territories. Currently, the UWSA leaders are still holding an emergency meeting to discuss the ultimatum.

In the meantime, the NDAA has already pulled out from two of its tactical bases in Wan Kho and Pong Hiet in Shan State East’s Mong-yawng township by the side of the west bank of the Mekong. Wan Kho base was taken by the Burma Army on 27 April. And NDAA troops in Pong Hiet were reported to have pulled out yesterday, Shan Heral Agency for News said.

According to a source, the Burma armed forces came with the strength of 100 soldiers and enclosed the group in the morning without firing a shot. After the NDAA troops left the area in the evening, Burmese soldiers from the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 573 based in Mongphyak took over the post.

In March 2010, Chinese defense officials made an effort to repair the worsening relationship between the UWSA and the ruling military junta which demanded repeatedly the Wa accept its Border Guard Force plan. Despite the fact that details are lacking, sources say China is making another attempt to convince the Burmese junta of the futility of war against the UWSA.

Recently, two of the anti-Border Guard Force groups – United Wa State Army (UWSA) and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) – were reportedly advised by China not to join in with any groups opposing the military junta. If not they would be under attacks similar to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Shan State Army (SSA) North, according to a Sino-Burma border source.

The junta doesn’t have the strength to make an offensive towards several ethnic groups at the same time, observers believe. At present, the military junta has spread out more troops along the Salween River to bring to a halt a possible relationship between the UWSA and SSA ‘North’. The SSA is active in the west of the Salween while the UWSA is in the east.

The UWSA and NDAA said they will maintain the four principles: not surrender; not transform into BGF unless their autonomy demands are met; not shoot first; but they are ready to protect themselves.

However, the junta dogmatically insists the homeland must have only one army and that clause has been put in the unfair 2008 constitution which cannot be amended without permission of the armed forces.

In light of the current vote-rigging election scenario in Burma, the armed rebellion is still the only realistic means to accomplish the essential goals of self-sufficiency and self-determination. The NLD – which won the 1990 polls but was not allowed to take power by the military – is boycotting the 7-November election, describing them as undemocratic and counterfeit.

Western nations and human rights groups have also affirmed the election was unfair since the military regime banned the National League for Democracy and Shan National League for Democracy to take part in the latest polls.

As a result, most analysts predict that the current President Thein Sein’s regime will fail to get supports from various ethnic populations; instead it has to face political defiance as well as armed insurrections in the near future.

-Asian Tribune- http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/04/30/civil-strife-will-prolong-under-burma%E2%80%99s-new-president
---------------------------------------------------
Suu Kyi, dedicated follower of the Grateful Dead

Nobel laureate reveals surprising musical passion on eve of guest-directing UK arts festival
By Nina Lakhani
Sunday, 1 May 2011

Aung San Suu Kyi, lauded as the emblem of Burma's long hoped-for democratic reform, has revealed an unsuspected side. In the run-up to Brighton Festival she announced that she is a fan of reggae legend Bob Marley and the Grateful Dead, the Seventies rock band known for their blend of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia and long, improvised live performances.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winner was chosen to be artistic director of this year's festival, and during an interview in Rangoon with the festival's chief executive, Andrew Comben, talked about the power of the arts to communicate messages of freedom and human rights, as well as her more conventional passion for Beethoven, Mozart and Bach.

The sister of her late husband Michael Aris and her brother-in-law were also heavily involved in planning the festival before her release from house arrest last November. The programme also features artists that reflect her passion for songs of resistance, including dub musician Lee "Scratch" Perry, who inspired Bob Marley, and protest music by John Cale and Asian Dub Foundation.

Ms Suu Kyi is the subject of a critically acclaimed play which will be performed at the festival with a new ending. The Lady of Burma, praised for its insights into Ms Suu Kyi's non-political persona, is part of a much wider celebration of her life and struggle. While clearly delighted to be guest-directing a festival for the first time, she expressed disbelief about being the focus of a play, and seems bewildered that she is so widely revered. Despite her inexorable political responsibilities, she has promised to watch as many of the festival's performances as possible online.

The playwright Richard Shannon, who wrote the original in 2006 after studying dozens of Ms Suu Kyi's letters and home videos, last night said: "She may not want to be seen as an icon, but people need a focus: they need to engage with a person to engage with an issue. The play tries to get behind the mask and tell the human story of a very warm, passionate person who has a great sense of humour."

A keen piano player, Ms Suu Ki has been playing Mozart since her release "just to make me happy" after years with an "unplayable" piano during her house arrest. But she laments her own abilities: "I've often wished in these last few years under detention that I were a composer because then I would be able to express what I felt through music, which is somehow so much more universal than words."

Ms Suu Kyi accepted the Freedom of the City from Brighton and Hove Council with an almost childlike joy: "Can I just go anywhere I like in the city? That will be fun, going along Brighton knocking on doors to find out whether they really will open for me or not!"

On the last day of the festival, on 29 May, hundreds of people across Brighton will recite passages from the UN Declaration of Human Rights and 2,500 lotus flowers will be released, including one origami flower made by Ms Suu Kyi. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/suu-kyi-dedicated-follower-of-the-grateful-dead-2277350.html
-----------------------------------------------
'New Myanmar govt continuation of junta'
Updated on Saturday, April 30, 2011, 16:46

Washington: Asserting the new "Thein Sein's government is just a continuation of the military regime," eleven pro-democracy Myanmarese groups have asked the junta to conduct dialogue with all stakeholders to revise the 2008 constitution.

Based on the 2008 Constitution and the 2010 elections, these pro-democracy groups, in a report, have analysed the formation of new governing structures in Myanmar and claimed to have produced evidence that "Thein Sein's government is just a continuation of the military regime".

These groups include the All Burma Monks' Alliance (ABMA), the 88 Generation Students, All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), and other dissident organizations. These all were involved in organising of the 2007 Saffron Revolution.

Many members of these groups are still in jails among over 2,100 political prisoners.

The report claims "the 2008 Constitution is a constitution of military junta's domination and that the government emerging from the 2010 election is also a militarist USDP government that would rule the country through the militarist constitution."

They regard "the government of ex-Gen Thein Sein as the USDP military regime which would carry on oppressing the people of all ethnic nationalities", and proclaim "they will continue their efforts in the interests of entire people to abolish the military dictatorship and the 2008 Constitution."

"When the post-2010 government led by President U Thein Sein the ex-General arose, it is found that junta's top brass have entrenched themselves in the State's crucial legislative, executive and judicial branches in the form of uniformed military officers, civilian-veiled army officers or as members of USDP sponsored by the military," the report said.

In the executive branch, twenty-six out of a total of thirty-five minister posts are assumed by military officers with USDP members filling up the rest, it stated.

As such, the group demanded the Thein Sein's government to unconditionally release all political prisoners; immediately stop the civil war and conduct internal peace; repeal decrees and notifications prohibiting fundamental democratic rights inn political, economic, social and cultural realms; conduct dialogue with all stakeholders to revise the 2008 Constitution and others.

Meanwhile, 13 eminent American NGOs have supported the decision of the Obama Administration to back the creation of an international Commission of Inquiry for Myanmar as recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Quintana.

In a letter to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the NGOs appealed to her to lead the effort to create such a commission at the June session of the UNHRC in Geneva.

"Effective diplomacy by the United States in Geneva over the past year on issues such as Iran and freedom of association and assembly shows that leadership makes a difference," the letter, dated April 25, stated.

"Now is the time to make a difference on Burma and actively lead other members of the United Nations to support the creation of a Commission of Inquiry," the NGOs said. UN Human Rights Council will convene its 17th Session in Geneva from May 30 to June 17, 2011.

"We strongly urge you to follow through on your decision last fall to back the creation of an International Commission of Inquiry for Myanmar and lead the effort to create such a commission at the June session of the UN Human Rights Council," it said.

"For too many years, the regime in Myanmar has carried out with impunity widespread and serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law," they said.

Since 1991, the United Nations has expressed serious concern about Myanmar through numerous resolutions, reports and documents.

During this time, the Secretary-General has used his good offices to engage with Myanmarese regime authorities.

Two decades of efforts at engagement and dialogue by the international community have failed to end violations and alleviate the suffering of the Myanmarese people, the NGOs pointed.

Noting the global support for an investigation into ongoing human rights violations in Myanmar has been steadily growing since March 2010 - when Quintana recommended the creation of a Commission of Inquiry, the NGOs said 16 countries, including the US, have publicly endorsed the recommendation.

As Quintana reported to the Council, "it is essential for investigations of human rights violations to be conducted in an independent, impartial and credible manner, without delay" they added.

PTI http://www.zeenews.com/news703281.html
----------------------------------------------
Junta softens approach to Nargis victims
Sunday, 01 May 2011 03:03

IRRAWADDY DELTA, Myanmar: A tattered UN tarpaulin makes a shady awning for one of the huts dotting the emerald rice paddies of Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta, a reminder of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis three years ago.

“We rebuilt everything ourselves — the government did nothing,” said Myo Tun, who came to the area with an international aid agency after the disaster struck and whose name has been changed to protect his identity.

Bodies were still floating in the area’s network of waterways weeks after the cyclone hit, he said, as the ruling junta failed to act to help the region.

Now there are signs that the new, nominally civilian government, which took power earlier this year after controversial November elections that excluded democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, is striving to show a
changed attitude.

President Thein Sein, a retired general who was prime minister during Nargis, has pledged to work more closely with humanitarian groups and responses to recent disasters suggest the approach has changed.

“They are more ready to give timely public information on details of these events, and to give access to international agencies,” said Myanmar analyst Richard Horsey.

But privately, many remain cautious.

“I would not say that any organisation operates with 100 percent confidence in this country,” said one senior international aid agency figure, asking not to be named.

Nargis smashed through the southern delta region on May 2, 2008 leaving an estimated 138,000 people dead or missing.

Myanmar’s rulers refused foreign assistance for weeks while 2.4 million people struggled desperately for survival.

“Nargis was a real humanitarian watershed,” said Chris Herink of World Vision, which took part in relief work after an earthquake hit eastern Myanmar in March.

Thousands are still sleeping in temporary shelters after the quake but, unlike when Nargis struck, those affected were helped quickly and by the army itself.

The United Nations said the earthquake, as well as Cyclone Giri, which affected an estimated 260,000 people in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state last October, represented “increased cooperation” between agencies and government.

“It’s an open question in terms of the new leadership and how they will regard humanitarian assistance and in particular international assistance,” said Herink, who added that the signs at the moment were “positive.”

Foreign aid has become crucial in filling the gaps left by a government that spent just 0.9 percent of its budget on health in 2007, according to the World Health Organisation — substantially lower than any other country
that year. AFP http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/s.-asia/philippines/150720-junta-softens-approach-to-nargis-victims.html
--------------------------------------------
Some 38 armed group members surrender in Myanmar in three months
Xinhua: 14:44, May 01, 2011

A total of 38 members from some anti- government ethnic armed groups in Myanmar laid down their arms in different military command areas in the first three months of this year, the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Sunday.

These members from the Shan State Army (SSA), United Wa State Army (UWSA), Kayinni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and Kayin National Union (KNU), who returned to the government's legal fold, brought along 422 rounds of ammunition among others, the report said.

Of the armed groups, KNU, which fought with the government for more than six decades since Myanmar's independence in 1948, remains as the largest anti-government ethnic armed group still operating on the Myanmar-Thai border.

The government said a total of 17 main anti-government armed groups and 23 small groups have so far made peace with the government, returning to the legal fold under respective ceasefire agreements since 1989.

Meanwhile, the new government, which was sworn in on March 30, has spelled out a policy of dealing with remaining armed groups operating in the border regions, saying that it will keep the door open to them and these armed groups are invited to partake in the peace process in line with the new state constitution.

Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7366681.html
-----------------------------
Myanmar president urges workers to work for developing nation
Xinhua: 14:43, May 01, 2011

Myanmar President U Thein Sein Sunday urged workers and peasants in the country to work for building up a peaceful, modern and developed nation through national unity on a self-reliant basis.

"In the process, if workers and peasants work with might and main under the leadership of the government in productivity and services, the nation will enjoy greater development in the political, economic an social sectors," U Thein Sein said in his message on the occasion of the May Day which falls on Sunday.

Noting that the national development of the country is picking up momentum, Thein Sein said the government will keep trying to enable workers to enjoy fruits of development such as rights and better living condition including more choices for jobs, higher income, worksite safety and welfare.

He told the workers in the country that the government has been encouraging foreign investment to run modern factories and plants, which he pointed out is a good opportunity for the workers to enjoy high salary, rights and jobs.

He specially emphasized the need for the workers and the peasants to work hard in cooperation with the government for sustainable development of agricultural sector and speedy industrialization of the nation, and to guard against destructive acts of neo-colonislists.

Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7366679.html
----------------------------------
Myanmar strives for satellite communication development
Xinhua: 14:42, May 01, 2011

Myanmar has made a step forward in the development of satellite communication by setting up a central committee and a working committee for launching satellite.

The five-member central committee is headed by the union minister of communications, posts and telegraphs, while the seven- member working committee is led by the director of communications of the defense ministry.

The central committee for launching satellite is to lay down policies for the launch of state-operated satellites, approve satellite-launching memorandums of understanding and carry out tasks aimed at obtaining space-related technology.

As part of a move to seek cooperation with foreign counterparts on the aspects, Myanmar and Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding in Nay Pyi Taw early this week. A joint technical committee also met and touched on promotion of cooperation in the telecommunication sector through the use of satellite.

In fact, the Thaicom Public Company has made discussions with the Myanmar telecommunication authorities on the satellite services and technological cooperation over the last three days. Myanmar is another country to receive Thaicom services after Cambodia.

On March 31, 2010, Myanmar International TV (MITV), which is MRTV-3 channel, began airing documentaries and current affairs on Myanmar in English language round the clock through some satellites -- Thaicom-5 (Asia), Hot Bird-8 (Europe) , Galaxy-19 ( North America), Apstar-V (Asia Beam)), and Optus D2 (NANAZ Beam).

MITV beams reach North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, India and Indochina regions and arrangements have been made for its round-the-clock programs to cover the whole world.

The parent MRTV also airs the channel for domestic audience for two hours every morning.

Meanwhile, the MRTV is making preparation to launch a new channel, Channel 9, which comprise programs dealing with knowledge and entertainment sectors.

To enable its airing reach far-flung areas in the country, the MRTV is also making efforts to add more relay stations regionwise, projecting to build 10 such stations annually.

Since 2001, digital technology has been introduced for the airing to enable receiving of the TV program from any region in the country.

According to statistics, a total of 217 MRTV relay stations have been launched countrywide.

MRTV was first launched in June 1980 with four channels including Myanmar and English languages telecasting news, education and entertainment programs and for many years, its main broadcast centered in Yangon.

In late 2007, the main broadcasting station moved to Naypyidaw and the Yangon Station now mostly relays Nay Pyi Taw Station's programs.

Meanwhile, the military-run Myawaddy TV, which is next to MRTV, started telecasting in March 1995 and has morning and evening services at present.

In cooperation with China Central Television (CCTV), Cable Networks News (CNN) and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), there are also satellite news available with the MRTV.

Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7366678.html
-------------------------------------------------
The savage toll from Burma's dirty war

The regime is the last in the world still planting mines and the rebels improvise their own devices. Liane Wimhurst meets the people caught in the middle

Sunday, 1 May 2011

Ootepew lies with his withered leg under a mound of coarse blankets, his face stoical as he awaits an amputation. It is more than a week since he trod on a landmine outside his home in Burma's Kayin state, and his wounds have begun to fester. In a messy and bitter war between insurgent groups and the Burmese army that has spanned decades, this clandestine killer has become the weapon of choice.

Burma is the only regime in the world still planting landmines. A tenth of the Burmese population live just a few ill-chosen footsteps away from a blast that could maim or kill, according to the International Committee to Ban Landmines (ICBL). Despite this, the Burmese authorities still churn out mines modelled on old Chinese and US designs at the state-run ammunition factory.

The actual number of mines produced each year is unknown outside of the Burmese military, but it is likely to be in the thousands. "The anti-landmine campaign has been extremely successful: each year land has been cleared and stockpiles destroyed. This is simply not the case in Burma," says Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, research co-ordinator of the ICBL, a network of organisations that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

The Burmese government has long operated behind a veil of secrecy, making access to the nation's landmine casualty numbers extremely difficult. The ICBL counted 2,587 in the 10 years to the end of 2009 – 183 killed, 2,207 injured and 197 unknown. The actual figure is certain to be far higher. Ten years ago, Burma was in the top 10 countries for mine casualties. Five years ago it was in the top five. For the past three years it has been in the top three. The most recent data shows an average of around 4,000 landmine casualties globally each year. In every country in the world the number of casualties is dropping, apart from Burma, where they have remained high year on year.

Only Colombia and Afghanistan have more mine deaths and injuries each year than Burma. These two worst-offending nations are signed up to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, have destroyed their stockpiles of weapons, and are involved in a programme to de-mine. Burma is alone in having a widespread and relentless problem and doing nothing to address it.

The government's justification is that the country has long borders and a problem with people trafficking and drug running. But, as Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan explains: "Mine warfare in Burma is simply accepted military doctrine and it doesn't get reviewed."

Over the border in Thailand lies the hilltop town of Mae Sot, a halfway house for Burma's refugees. Burmese women with white circles painted on their cheeks and men draped in wrap-around lungis populate every corner. The Thailand Burma Border Consortium estimates that around 142,000 refugees live in camps around Mae Sot.

The sprawling humanitarian heartland of medical facilities and aid agencies faces the quagmire of shattered lives, displacement and disease caused each day by the war in Burma. The spectacle of those such as 70-year-old Ootepew, limbs crushed and writhing in agony, is familiar here. But the elderly patient is impassive, he just once betrays his emotions – when asked about his repatriation his sunken eyes flash a look of fear.

The Burmese military leadership and ethnic minority rebels have been locked in a brutal and volatile conflict for 50 years. In their struggles for autonomy, many insurgent groups have become caught up in long-running feuds with each other and splinter into new groups to take up arms.

When asked about the origin of the mine that mangled his leg Ootepew is unequivocal: it was the junta that planted it. Ethnic refugees, victims and campaigners in Mae Sot often solely level blame for landmine atrocities at the regime. The reality is more complex: the ICBL has counted 17 different militias scattering landmines in Burma since 1999. Burmese villagers are determined to ensure the junta is held responsible for every aspect of the humanitarian disaster, while the warlords who head the militias play Russian roulette with the lives of those in their own communities.

Government-made landmines are powerful enough to kill instantly. The rebel devices – rudimentary bombs consisting of a glass bottle stuffed with nuts and bolts – deliver bone-shattering, dirty wounds, much like Ootepew's injury.

Survivors face an amputation without anaesthetic in a wooden hut in the jungle, after which they will attach a bamboo shoot to their stump and attempt to walk. When the rebel landmine kills, it is a slow and painful death caused by gangrene or other infections. A lucky few, like Ootepew, are helped by friends to drag their shredded limb across the border to Thailand.

Agencies covertly collecting data on landmine "accidents" have recorded a spike in the number of victims spilling into Mae Sot since the start of the year. The recent influx started with an officer of the junta treading on an explosive device, sparking a wave of violence.

Dr Cynthia Maung is a witness to this upsurge. The Karen refugee arrived in Mae Sot more than 20 years ago, one of many pro-democracy activists who fled during the violent crackdown on the 1988 student uprising. She set up a clinic to help the tide of injured and displaced people turning up every day, and her workload has since sizeably increased.

From inside her makeshift accident and emergency unit, the walls of which are lined with posters of Aung San Suu Kyi, the soft-spoken, weary-looking doctor says: "The people who come here don't know who they are. Many have been on the run for so long that they don't know where they're from or when their birthday is."

Ootepew will come here once his leg has been severed, as Dr Maung has established a dedicated prosthetic limb clinic. A Burmese woman, Mya Aye, has become a permanent resident since having both her legs blown off by a mine. Her torso lies face down on a flimsy bed in a hut, her two disused prosthetic limbs rest by her bed.

The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates the total number of amputees in Burma to be 12,000, of whom the majority are likely to be landmine victims.

A recent undercover investigation by two European charities revealed widespread use of child soldiers, human shields and forced labour by both the junta and rebels. More than 800 mine victims were interviewed. The findings showed that children and villagers were forced to walk through infested areas to check for mines. Of the victims in the study, 13 per cent were children and around half were civilians.

The biggest thorn in the side of groups such as the ICBL is their inability to engage the government. There has been no official comment since 2009, when a foreign ministry representative spoke at a regional mine ban workshop in Bangkok. The government has shunned UN meetings.

Although rebel weapons contribute a significant part of the landmine blight in Burma, aid agencies argue that a strategy to combat the problem must start with the leadership. "If the authorities in the country can't join the Mine Ban Treaty today, they should at least order a moratorium on any new mine use and make serious offers to negotiate with the armed insurgency," says Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan.

The junta refuses to stop planting mines so long as the rebels continue to do so. The rebels, meanwhile, scatter explosive devices to ward off attacks by the junta. This puts the warring sides in a permanent state of stand-off, with innocent victims like Ootepew in the line of fire. Should current conditions prevail in Burma, where tensions can flare up again at any time – the tragic human waste from the insidious weapon lurking in the jungle will continue unabated.

Last November's election, the first in Burma for 20 years, was dismissed by western powers as a sham.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy boycotted the vote and a pro-junta party stormed to victory with an almost 80 per cent majority.

The new president, Thein Sein, is one of several generals of the junta who shed their uniform to contest the election. Although the military has officially handed power to the new government, members meet for just 15 minutes a day.

In such conditions the nation's scattered arsenal of explosive devices is unlikely to top the agenda. Meanwhile the human detritus lies strewn across the jungle. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-savage-toll-from-burmas-dirty-war-2277366.html
--------------------------------------
USDP Fails to Keep Election Promises
4/30/2011
By Takaloo

Maungdaw: The Union Solidarity and Development Party, the leading party in Burma's current government, has not kept its promises given to the public during the election campaign, say voters.

2010_Burma_USDP
The allegations against the party emerged from Muslims who voted for the party after the USDP held a public conference on 28 April in Alaethankyaw Village in southern Maungdaw.

"They told us to vote to the lion, with promises they would strive for free movement, national identity cards, and reparation of mosques for the Muslims, if they were to be elected. But they did not mention anything about their promises in the public conference yesterday," said one of the Muslim voters to the party.

According to the voters, U Aung Zaw Win, aka Zakir Ahmed, MP in the people's parliament for Maungdaw, spoke to attendees at the conference along with other leaders.

"U Aung Zaw Win has spoken to the conference, saying that they are allowed to hold the conference because they are members of the government party - and urged the people to live in compliance with the government's laws and order, and that his government has plans to carry out regional development gradually," said another voter for the party.

The military authorities in Arakan State have imposed some regional laws for Muslims in the area relating to travel, marriage, and building or repairing religious structures, since their coup in 1991.

The Muslim voters want the military-backed USDP that mostly controls the new government to lift restrictions on them as promised by the party during the election campaigns.

Over 2,000 people, including the USDP's local members, attended the public conference that was held by the MPs from 2 to 3 pm on 28 April, in Alaethankyaw Village. http://www.narinjara.com/details.asp?id=2942